More Americans Approve of GOP Tax Overhaul and Expect to Get a Tax Cut

Americans seem to be warming to the GOP’s new tax law, with approval ratings for the overhaul going up among both Republicans and Democrats — although the latter still largely don’t like it, the New York Times writes.

GOP Tax Law: Loved by Republicans, Less Hated by Democrats

Overall, 46% of Americans strongly or somewhat approved of the new law in early January, compared to 37% who approve of it when it was passed in December, according to the publication, which hired SurveyMonkey to conduct the poll. Approval ratings among Republicans rose from 79% to 86%, but even among Democrats, the ranks of those who approve of the law rose from 8% to 13%, the New York Times writes.

Various polls are showing different results, meanwhile. A Gallup poll that came out this week, for example, found only 33% approved of the new tax law in January, compared to 29% who approved of it in December, according to the publication.

But Americans are also becoming more optimistic about the tax law’s effect on their finances: while 33% of Americans overall believed they would get a tax cut in the New York Times' December poll, by January, that figure reached 41%, according to the publication.

The majority of Republicans (63%) polled this month thought they would get a tax cut this year, but the percentage of Democrats who believe there’s no tax cut for them has only dropped from 75% in December to 71% in January, the New York Times writes.

Nonetheless, Americans overall are also more optimistic about other aspects of the economy, including the booming stock market, falling unemployment and surging economic growth, according to the publication.

Now, 42% of Americans believe the country’s economy is in better shape than a year ago, according to a poll of 10,509 adults the New York Times conducted in early January. And only 23% of those polled believe the economy is worse, according to the publication. A recent Quinnipiac University poll, meanwhile, found that two-thirds of Americans believe the economy is excellent or good, a 3% rise from December, the New York Times writes.